Sparring with the Blade of Fate
by Cathamaria
Summary: The swords of two enemies clash for the power of the Clow Cards; Syaoran and Sakura's hatred for each other is fuelled by the long-standing rivalry between the Lis and the Kinomotos.
1. Danger and Sin, a CardCaptors Life

**Sparring with the Blade of Fate **

AU Drama—a twist on the CCS series.

The swords of two enemies clash for the power of the Clow Cards; Syaoran and Sakura's hatred for each other is fuelled by the long-standing rivalry between the Lis and the Kinomotos. They're an even match when it comes to sparring with their swords, but does either of them stand a chance against the blade of fate? Especially when its intent is not to force them apart, but bring them together?

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura and the characters belong to CLAMP... and I don't think I will ever be able to cough up the money to buy it from them either...

Dedicated to: All my CCS obsessive friends... u know who u are! XP

Note: ...hehehe. No, this is NOT a crossover with pokemon or yugioh, k? It's an AU with some really strange twists when it comes to being a Cardcaptor...

**Chapter I: Danger and Sin, a Cardcaptor's Life**

"_To the final, bitter end we clash against each other, the dance of life and death unfolding as the battle we are about to fight. We do not fear the fates or each other, for we are all magicians in pursuit of the same power. We battle for the right to keep the cards we have, and fight for the chance to steal another's. In our world of magic, to lose means to die and to be victorious means we must take the life of another. Our entire existence is filled with danger and sin."_

Two pairs of magic-born eyes stood facing across a deep ravine, from where the power of their ancestries resonated like the echoes of a raging storm. Neither moved nor spoke the first word, for both knew what quarrel lay between them. And so the storm blew on; the rain-drenched landscape remained the feral grounds, but the two magicians took no heed of element. Hell rose and crumbled around them and yet they gave no regard, for a battle was beginning.

"Your cards," the first one muttered, as though this plight for power was merely a childish game, and this opponent merely a child.

"And yours," the other answered in no different tone, for he, too, had the pride and confidence of a dark magician... a match they made in Hades. "Tatakainuku!" It was the fearless voice of their determination which declared to the final, bitter end that they would clash, the dance of life and death unfolding as the battle they were about to fight. One soul of these two would die tonight, and yet neither feared the deceitful fates.

The path of a Cardcaptor was a dangerous one indeed.

From beneath his hood, a pair of amber eyes flashed with the fury, the resolve, and the lust for power of a dark magician. He was a descendant of Clow Reed himself; his name none other than the feared Li Xiao Lang, and of course, he was beholden the first move. The air fell silent, and even the gods held their breath. "I, Xiao Lang, command thee under contract, release! Freeze!" His voice resounded as the tip of his blade met the card and the magic dispelled into the winds. The true form of the card held the body of a creature much like a whale in the deep oceans, and it dove down into the ravine, disappearing into the darkness to await its opponent.

The other magician smirked, his fingers releasing a card of his own. The spirit trapped in tarot form floated before him, and his staff swung around to meet the card in a ripple of powerful magic. He too, exclaimed the enchantment, bringing the spirit from its other realm. "Release, Arrow!" The pale blue figure spun around in human form, its bow drawn to fight what lay below it. A loud shriek was heard, and Xiao Lang's magic tore from the depths.

Freeze's power brought a new landscape upon them; the water-logged surroundings turned to sculptures of ice, and the ceaseless rain became a thick curtain of snow. Xiao Lang stood untouched as his opponent cringed in unforgiving winds. The Arrow, though, held its stance in the centre of it all, drawing its bow back and taking aim. The card fired to shatter the icy landscape piece by piece, but it could not reach its enemy.

"I command thee under contract, release! Twin!" Xiao Lang's opponent released a second card without warning. The aura from this spirit blinded his adversary for a near second. Suddenly, with a thunderous roar of magical energy, the power of two cards merged, and Arrow became two separate beings with the same purpose: hunt down the Freeze to protect their master. And then the battle raged on, the bright spectacle illuminating the darkness that had descended as night.

Through the snow and ice, the two pairs of hollow blue eyes watched for the silhouette of a great whale. They dodged the peaks of ice and avoided defeat in a fury of agility and premonition, keeping their bows drawn and poised for the strike. When Freeze finally appeared, it fired the arrows that would shatter it. This was the weakness of Xiao Lang's card. Its power was devastating, yet its body was as frail as glass. When the amber eyed magician saw, he screamed out. "Release, Time!"

And time stood still.

The spears of Freeze's destruction suddenly stopped in mid-flight towards the less agile beast of ice. "Change!" The arrows remained, but the souls of the two fighting spirits switched between their possessors. The result was no change in the body of the battle, but in the soul. And since there was no difference to the eye, the other magician did not notice the quiet strike.

Xiao Lang called back the Time and Change, and as the spell broke, the being of Freeze's entity was struck to the ground in a flash of fiery blue... and yet Freeze was not marred by the attack. The Change card's effect revealed itself. The soul of Freeze rose unharmed from its surrogate body and reformed itself, and the being of the Arrow and Twin's merged power failed. The amber eyes narrowed as he saw the opening. Before his opponent could realize the deception that had become of the strike, and before he could summon another card to his hand, Xiao Lang bade Freeze out into the open above the other magician, shrouding him in a sheet of ice and sending him down into the depths of the ravine.

"Child's play," was all that Xiao Lang whispered.

A scream resonated for a brief second before Li Xiao Lang's aura became the only one, standing above the ravine and staring into the darkness that lie below. His opponent had not turned over his cards willingly, and thus he had sent himself plummeting to his own icy grave. The Freeze returned to the living magician's hand.

"In thy form which thou should be, return to your new master," Xiao Lang commanded to the unseen spirits.

The winds were silent as he waited for the spoils of a victorious battle, and then three pillars of light shot up from the lifeless ravine. The magician pulled back the hood of his cloak and caught the three defeated cards in his hand. "Arrow, Twin, and Erase." He enunciated their names to claim them as his, and sure enough he watched as the fallen magician's name disappeared from the cards to be replaced by his own.

"So you were Yuushi?" he asked the blackness of the ravine and the soul of the man now residing at the very bottom. There was no answer, and he tucked the three cards into the jewelled pouch beneath the hilt of his sword. "You were brave, as your name speaks true, to face me for your cards and mine... but you need more than courage to be a strong warrior. Perhaps, in the next life, you will have learned this lesson." He clapped his hands twice in prayer as was the honourable custom to bless the valour of one's fallen opponent.

And then in a whisper is his dark green cape, Li Xiao Lang disappeared into the night, three Clow Cards stronger than he'd arrived.

The path of a Cardcaptor was a dangerous one indeed.

Two auras, one pink and the other grey-blue, circled each other in the clearing beneath an ivory moon, waiting for the chance to strike. A pair of ruby eyes studied her opponent, meeting a fierce emerald gaze. "So you are the little cherry blossom?" she asked, sneering. The emerald eyes narrowed.

"I am Kinomoto Sakura." Her reply was cold and distant. "And I am only after your cards."

"Then I shall fight you for mine and yours, Kinomoto, because I am Su Ling, a descendant of Clow Reed, and no blood of his do you have!"

The flames of determination scorched the skies, and against the cunning fates both magicians would play. They fought for the right to keep the cards they carried and the chance to steal the cards of their fallen adversary. These were bloody battles, as both ruby and emerald eyes had seen before—for to fail, to lose, meant to die... And to win, it meant one had to kill another.

The life of a Cardcaptor was full of sin and bloodstained triumphs.

"I, Sakura, command thee under contract, release! Shadow!" She bore the name of Cherry Blossom, yet she was not fragile; she was beautiful, and yet it was a deception to all who laid eyes upon her. Beneath the petals of this flower lay its poisonous thorns. Sakura Kinomoto was a blood magician... a deadly one. She was a woman, but the elders of her clan had trained her as a warrior. The card she summoned floated before her as she struck it with her star staff, the light pink entity resounding with a power that the ruby-eyed woman had never seen. Shadow unfurled itself, reaching out and engulfing the light. The ivory moon disappeared.

The other magician flinched for a moment, and then smiled to herself. She drew a card from her cloak and laid it in front of her, the tip of her blade just touching the magical tarot. "I, Su Ling, command thee under contract, release! Thunder!" But overconfidence would always have the downfall. The lightning beast leapt forth, illuminating the Shadow's darkness. Sparks of electricity carried far across the clearing, but they never reached Sakura.

Emerald eyes met ruby, and the dance of battle began its final song. "Tatakainuku!" To the bitter end.

Shadow constricted, but failed to ensnare the silver-blue beast in its haunting claws. Lightning whipped against the empty sky, breaking through the dark binds of Shadow and sending its power across the field and deep into the enemy's realm. And so the beats of battle repeated, as Shadow struck and lightning broke the wild beast free, and Thunder sent its fury out but failed to hit the elusive Shadow. Neither card was winning... and so Sakura took the chance she saw.

"Release, Power!" The spirit's strength emanated from the card and when it was released, the scales dipped towards the blood magician's emerald eyes. And all that happened after was too fast to be stopped by either party. Shadow wrapped itself around the Power and when its dark cloak reopened, the pink spirit no longer could be seen. The thunder beast jumped to attack the darkness, unknowing of the change in its opponent's prowess.

"Stop, Thunder!" Su Ling screamed, desperate, but the silver beast fell into Shadow's binds, whose strength now reigned over the magic of the Thunder. The creature could not break free to save its stunned mistress, and it howled in defeat as the dark cloak around it continued to constrict.

"It's over, Su Ling," Sakura hissed, and the Shadow did as bade once more and swallowed the ruby-eyed woman, rising into the skies to celebrate a wicked glory. The Shadow's magic energy, too strong to be fought by the human form, bound ever tighter against her, and finally, the darkness ripped through her flesh. The blood fell like rain above Sakura, and those emerald eyes were intent on watching her will as it was carried out. Defeated, Su Ling screamed once before the silence descended, and the curtains of this final dance were closed. Alas, for this there came no applause, only the silence of death.

The battle, though enduring, was still mere child's play for the blood magician. Shadow and Power returned to her hand as summoned, and the body of a fallen magician lay unmoving before her. Another one had died for the Clow Cards. "You were too slow," Sakura whispered, those fierce eyes fading into pity. She shuddered to look upon the woman's face, frozen into a scream—a plea for mercy—as her hollow eyes stared at the stars, seeing nothing. Sakura turned away.

"In thy form which thou should be, return to your new master." Four soft lights glowed in the return of the ivory moon. She held her hand out to capture the cards that once belonged to Su Ling. That name, scribed onto each Clow Card, disappeared to be replaced by the name of their new mistress: Kinomoto Sakura. "Thunder, Rain, Dash, and Song." She placed them in a pouch she held beneath her cloak and looked over to the woman who lay dead. The sorrow, the remorse, which Sakura had once felt for the bloodshed of her victories had died along with the years. Now there was only a dull, empty ache. No longer did she shed tears for those who faced death by her hand. Twice Sakura clapped her hands in prayer for the soul of the other magician, pleading with the gods' forgiveness.

Then she disappeared into the haunting silence, with four more cards and one more death weighing on her soul.

The life of a Cardcaptor was full of sin and bloodstained triumphs.

"Sakura-san, you've returned," an older boy stated matter-of-factly as the girl returned, throwing off her cape and leaving it for the servants to retrieve. She stepped from the manor's marble foyer and into the main gallery, where the boy who spoke was seated at a table. This boy was of twenty-one summers, the older brother of the sixteen year old blood magician. She nodded to acknowledge him, and then rather unceremoniously took a seat across the lounge room table. The dark-haired boy looked at her with slight disapproval in his cherry-chocolate eyes.

"What is it Touya-kun?" she snapped, noticing his judgmental gaze.

"You should learn to act more ladylike," he replied, leaving his younger sister to glare with those fiery green eyes. And then too suddenly, she looked away, that fury fading into something of self-pity, and he only waited for her to speak what he knew she would say.

"I killed another this eve," she whispered, pulling the cards she carried from their pouch and laying them face-up across the table. Indeed, Touya saw four new tarots amongst his sister's collection. "I killed another to capture the Thunder, Rain, Dash, and Song. I left her dead in an empty clearing for the vultures; her ruby eyes will haunt me now, just like the rest." Sakura slumped down against the dark acajou wood. "It is my punishment for the life I chose to lead."

"It was not your choice to become a Cardcaptor, Sakura," Touya remarked to try and save his younger sister from her self-mutilation. It happened every time she returned; she condemned herself and believed that the torment of her nightmares was the penance she had to pay. "You were born with magic in your blood and I was not, therefore you had to become the Cardcaptor. If I could, I would have taken your place, if only to save your innocence from all this spilled magician blood."

"But then it would be you who would have to kill. It would be you who'd face the sin that weighs so heavily upon these shoulders. It would be your torment, not mine!" Tears were forming in Sakura's eyes, but her brother did not notice, for she had been the one trained to hide her emotion.

"And I would not care!" Touya shouted, exasperated with the girl. Sakura silenced from the shock, and his tone softened. "I would not care, Sakura. Both our mother and father are in the sky, and I promised them that I would take care of you. But when they were gone the elders took you because you had magic. They wanted you to be the next Kinomoto blood magician, a Cardcaptor, because with Father gone there was no other sorcerer to take up the quarrel with the Li Family. They wanted you to one day fight against the son of the Li Clan Leader and win, or at least die trying... And there was nothing I could do about it."

"Touya-kun..."

"Every time you disappear into the night to gather those cards, I fear for you. I am afraid, Sakura, truly afraid that one day, you will not be the victor." The boy fell quiet for a moment, not daring to look into Sakura's eyes. He assumed to see the worst if he did. "One day, you might not come home."

There was silence. Sakura kept her head bowed and Touya remained with his gaze averted. "I'm sorry that you must worry so much, Touya-san," was all that Sakura said before gathering her cards from the table. She stood to leave and then stopped, speaking softly. "Tell Mihara that I will not be eating dinner tonight."

"Sakura," Touya began to reject.

"It is not likely I will be allowed to escape the elders' chambers until breakfast." She shrugged absentmindedly. "I've only brought back four cards this time, and I am sure they will not be pleased." With that, she left the room the way she came, leaving her older brother to stare after her receding figure. There was a streak of sadness in his eyes.

Gak... that was... well... no comment. Hope you liked it

Yup, you guessed right—another random fanfiction author is back form the dead! I took quite the fall fanfiction-wise the past year or so... I've been concentrating more on original prose and poetry (yeah, curse that stuff)... Let's see if I can get back up on my feet and actually write something good... nah... :P

CrimsonDaybreak

NoireCat


	2. This is a Destiny, Unavoidable

**Chapter II: This is a Destiny, Unavoidable**

"_I created those Cards so that there would always be light in this dark world. Their powers were to protect, to serve, to rejoice mankind in magic. This was not the fate befallen. Who was I to dream of controlling fate? Controlling destiny? They are the Kinomotos and the Lis, two families shedding the blood of the other—only seeking the power I left behind for my children. The Cards were to give light to all people in this dark world, but for as long as they fight, there will be no light in their world."_

A marble statue of a dragon coiled around the doorway, its claws outreached as if to warn intruders to take heed of passage. Sakura stepped past it and down the dark corridor that she'd seen many times before. Stone carvings adorned with jewels of ruby, sapphire, emerald, and amber lined the path to the elders' sacred chambers. They seemed to come alive, each with an aura of their own; their glassy eyes shimmered under the light of the torches as if they were watching the young woman's travel into the heart of their lair. The thought of it made Sakura shiver, but she kept on walking with only the sound of her footsteps to keep her company.

It was only here in these chambers that the Clow Cards did not glow with the warmth of their ancient magic. In these halls they became cold and empty, as if the spirits fearing the elders themselves had fled from Sakura's side and into another world. It was only here that Sakura was completely alone... and strangely enough, that feeling brought as much comfort as it did anxiety.

She stopped in front of a solid door under the protection of an icon: the legendary Sun Guardian, Keroberos. She inhaled deeply and knocked twice.

"Kinomoto Sakura, enter into our presence."

She did as bade and laid a hand on the door, and it swung open silently, magically. She stepped into the chambers of the elders, and like always, the magic coursing through the air took her by surprise. It was powerful magic, and yet it did not belong to the elders. It belonged to the spirits of the Kinomoto warriors before her.

"Why is it you have come?"

"I have brought back the cards," Sakura answered. She knelt on both knees and bowed before the seven elders, Ichikawa, Saori, Yukokaida, Nao Aoji, Fukae, Yanakishimi, and Hashimoto. Of all, she knew not one first name. Silently, she laid the deck of Clow Cards on the glass engraving before her. Ichikawa, the eldest, stood up before Sakura. His height could have easily been only half of Sakura's, if the Cardcaptor ever were allowed to stand before the three highest of the elders.

"Speak their names to us, Kinomoto Sakura," Ichikawa commanded with a steady voice.

She did as bade and touched her right hand to the tarot deck. "To please you, great elders, I have brought the Thunder, Rain, Dash, and Song." As if an omen answering to her final words, the torches died, and the twelve flames of the candles, one on each point of the Clow Star, vanished with them. In the darkness, Sakura remained silent, as the elders had not bade her to speak. The seconds seemed like hours on a sand glass and the silence did not fade. The elders, she supposed, were conversing with only thought, perhaps planning what she would have to do next. The lights, though mysterious in themselves, were the comfort and the guidance offered to Sakura. Never had the flames diminished, and never did they disappear altogether. This time, she did not know what happened.

"Kinomoto Sakura," the second highest of the elders, Hashimoto, began, and Sakura bowed, fearing the worst from his cold tone.

"I am sorry if I have displeased the great elders," she mumbled, keeping her eyes locked on the ground as if the floor itself held the very meaning of life. But in the elders' chambers, one never knew. Perhaps if one could read the ancient inscriptions carved into the stone that was stood and knelt upon, the meaning of life and all existence might be discovered. Sakura, though, knew it was not the time to wonder, and she bowed even lower in silent reverence.

"You have not displeased us, Kinomoto Sakura." Somewhat surprised, she tore her eyes from the stone flooring as gracefully as haste would allow, and found she was staring into the silver gaze of Yukokaida. "A great task you have completed this night, Cardcaptor Kinomoto."

"Yes," the other six elders agreed in one voice. Sakura smiled with her eyes only.

"But there can be no celebrations, young one," Yukokaida continued. "Though you have completed the task your Father once set out to do, it was only the beginning of what is to be your destiny. Now begins the trial of a true Cardcaptor."

Her emerald eyes flashed, a sense of honour and fear mingling around her heart. "I do not fully understand, great elders, what it is you mean by 'destiny'."

Yanakishimi, the youngest, and in Sakura's mind, the most favourable of the seven elders, smiled with kind eyes. "You are still young, and though wise in your youth, there is still a world you have not witnessed. In time you will understand the workings of destiny and fate, but for now you must know that your business in Japan is complete." Sakura did not break her gaze from the elders that sat before her. "You were born on these islands, yes, but no longer does your path lie along our roads." Yanakishimi stood, relighting the twelve candles of the Clow Star. He lit a candle of his own and faced the six other elders and Sakura.

"So this is it," Nao Aoji whispered. Sakura misunderstood his meaning and began to fear. What was it they were going to do with her now? What did they mean by saying she had no other business in Japan? If there was a world which she still had not witnessed, were they going to show it to her?

"Do not fear, young one," Fukae spoke, reading what was in those emerald eyes. "Do not fear." And she nodded.

Yanakishimi, though young and least experienced, was the most powerful of the elders. He stood without moving, his eyes drifting from Sakura to the other elders and back again. "You are right; this is it." He repeated Nao Aoji. "Tonight, in these sacred chambers, below the light cast by the Clow Star, and before the power and the spirits of the Kinomoto magicians before us, I proclaim this blood magician, though she may be a woman, to be the one. With Clow Reed as our witness, we call upon Keroberos to bestow his divine protection, so that Cardcaptor Kinomoto Sakura may become the one true Card Mistress. She will be the Card Mistress."

All was silent then; the fore-coming magic dared anyone to speak. Yanakishimi blew out the candle he held, and one by one, the flames of the other twelve on the Clow Star vanished as well. The Clow Cards still lay in the centre, and when the last flame disappeared, the circle around the Star began to glow. That circle of light lifted off the ground, and the magic began. Sakura could only watch in astonishment.

The tarots remained in the deck, but they too, were lifted by an unseen force. It stopped moving in the centre of the circle and suddenly, the mystical display became a show of brilliant colour. Above the Clow Cards a faint spiral appeared, forming a vortex whose tip reached but never touched the top of the tarot deck. Within the isolated chambers, a powerful wind formed from the magic unfolding before the eight spectators. It blew about the room; each time it made a complete spiral, another aura joined the growing funnel, and the hundreds of colours and shades of pink and red and orange and golden yellow seemed to mingle tightly but they never truly merged. They were all spirits, all auras of magic, and the soul of every blood magician in Japan who had ever touched a Clow Card, every Kinomoto magician who had faced their fate and failed. Sakura could feel her father's aura lost in the vortex, but she knew he would neither be proud nor shamed by the destiny she had followed. It was a bloody path she chose, but she had followed him.

The winds died down suddenly, though the mystic show had not yet finished. "Call the Cards by name!" Ichikawa commanded, and Sakura obeyed.

"Mirror, Shadow," she began, and the tip of the vortex vanished into the deck of the Cards. "Fly, Float, Jump, Shield, Wood, Bubble, Sword..." The spiral kept on disappearing; the power that had congregated in that vortex was binding to the Clow Cards she owned. "Power, Illusion, Snow, Sweet, Dream, Sleep, Flower, Little, Big," she rhymed off the names she knew so well and when she reached the final four, the essence of those auras changed within the Cards. "Thunder, Rain, Dash, and Song."

Suddenly the many colours merged to become one, a brilliant shade of pink as bold as the late spring tulips and yet as subtle as the cherry blossom's petals. "Out of all the Clow Cards, twenty-two are governed by the Sun, and another such number are ruled by the Moon. The remaining are the six Elementals and the two Final Cards that can decide the outcomes of all fate." Yanakishimi motioned for Sakura to take the Cards in her hand. "These twenty-two are all the ones ruled over by the Sun. Guardian Keroberos," he commanded, "appear before us with your judgement."

The Clow Star's light exploded in the centre of the room, and a glorious winged beast emerged from his centuries of slumber. The ruby headdress he wore glowed with the power Clow Reed bestowed upon him, and his dark eyes opened. Immediately, his gaze fell on the young blood magician.

"Kinomoto Sakura," he began, his voice one to match his winged-lion form, "you are the Mistress of the Cards governed by the Sun." Sakura clutched the Cards to her heart. She feared the beast that stood before her, yet she did not let such emotion show in her eyes. "They all have been sealed and I am their Guardian. It is from now on, Cardcaptor Kinomoto Sakura, that I fight for you, and only you. I exist to fight for you, and kill for you, and die for you. I obey only you." She bowed to the Guardian spirit.

"Thank you, Keroberos," she closed her eyes and whispered.

"Call upon my powers, Mistress, and I shall appear to serve." With that, his golden wings enshrouded him, and Keroberos vanished into the darkness.

Silence descended until the magic that coursed through the air completely faded. It was only then that the elders spoke again. "Kinomoto Sakura," Ichikawa began.

"Yes, great elder?"

"With the Cards and the Sun Guardian on your side, it is now time you to journey into the heart of China." She nodded, and waited for the elders to explain further. "There are no more Clow Cards in Japan, and if the incantations conjured the true image of the Cards' fate, there is only one dark magician in Hong Kong who controls the Cards governed by the Moon. This magician is a Li, and this Li is your only rival who will try and prevent you from holding all the Cards."

"So I must now battle a Li?" Sakura asked.

"No, not yet, young one," replied Hashimoto. "There are six other spirits to be sealed before you can fight the Li descendant."

"Six more Cards?"

"Yes. They represent the six greatest elements of our world, and they are so powerful, that neither Guardian of the Sun nor the Moon rules over them. You must capture as many of them as you can, for they have no master. They run free in the heart of China's magic. That is where you must go to find them—seal them. And then you will find Li and take back the Cards that belong to this clan, the Kinomoto family."

"Are there not two more Cards?" Sakura asked, remembering what Yanakishimi had said before.

"They will not appear until the one true Master of all the Cards appears. You must hold all fifty before the final two allow you to enter their presence and spar with them."

"I understand," was all that Sakura said in reply. But the elders did not dismiss her, and she waited for whatever was next to come.

"Kinomoto Sakura," Ichikawa started, "you have brought great honour to the Kinomotos and us elders. For the first time in so long there is hope that the magic of Clow will be returned to this clan completely. There is no way to express our gratitude, and so we offer you this: What is it most you desire before leaving Japan?"

There were so many possibilities of what she would ask, and the elders had discussed such things amongst themselves before. She was, as of now, the most powerful blood magician in Japan. But she was also a young woman. The things they'd expected her to ask did not disregard this point. They thought for sure she'd ask to bring with her a treasure from the ancient chambers, or perhaps request a banquet to be held so that she may mingle with the highest of the Imperial Courts. One elder had even ventured the Cherry Blossom would ask that the son of Hokkaido's prince be held for her return and he then given to her as a husband.

But she asked for no such things. The seven elders had forgotten that even though she was a blood magician, the truth remained that, hidden, her heart and soul was pure, gentle, and selfless. It was the one trait they could not change through all her years of training. She cared not for those fancies of life.

"Tell me again," Sakura simply answered, "the story of Clow Reed."

The elders did not show their surprise, and they did not question if that truly was all she asked. They merely nodded.

_Eight hundred years ago, beneath the seventh moon, a magician appeared in the heart of Hong Kong. He claimed he had no family, no parents; he truly just appeared as he was. He spoke of fate and the existence beyond this world, and though people mocked him for it, secretly they believed in all he said. He lived among the people, and soon they realized that he was truly the most powerful magician in all of Japan and China alike. Whenever they asked for his name, he simply replied, "Clow Reed". The magic that ran thought his blood was incredible._

_Clow Reed's dream was to create a legend. He wanted to control fate; he wanted to create a link to the existence beyond this world of which he spoke. He wanted his power to live on and be passed down through the centuries so that there would always be light in this dark world. He split the magic of his star into fifty-two spirits, each with a different power and a different purpose. He took pride in his creation, for they were made to serve their Master, but soon enough, something went wrong._

_Each spirit had a mind of its own, though not all were rebellious, their nature was still capable of being devastating, and he needed to find a way to control them... a way to seal them into the realm beyond so that they could mingle amongst each other and be free until they were summoned for a purpose on the Earth. That is why he sealed each one into a tarot card, and in the end there were fifty-two gates to the other realm. Their powers confined, the Clow Cards were born. To protect the spirits, Clow created the Guardians of the Sun and Moon, Keroberos and Yue._

_Yet on the farthest edge of Hong Kong, there was another magician whose powers rivalled that of the great Clow Reed. Her name was Madoushi. Those who once came to her for her power and advice had turned to Clow Reed instead. She was no longer held as the most powerful sorcerer, and stripped of her pride and honour, she came to hate the other magician. She challenged him many times, and many times they battled. Every fight they fought against each other ended in a draw._

_One day, though, Madoushi challenged Clow Reed to a final match, where the one who lost would either chose to leave Hong Kong forever or face their death. Clow Reed accepted with no intention of losing, and yet somehow he did not intend to win. They fought again, and again after so many times before, it seemed that they would end it in a draw. So Clow did something unexpected by anyone. He summoned the powers of the Cards he had created, and the fateful battle ended in seconds. _

_Madoushi had lost, and as they had agreed, was to leave Hong Kong forever. But Clow Reed did not let her leave. He asked her to stay, because, though he did not understand how or when or why, he had fallen in love with her. He admired her strength and respected her courage. And his kindness had captured her heart._

_For his kindness, Madoushi wanted to give something in return, and so she surrendered the powers of her own star, and gave them willingly to the Clow Cards. Between Clow Reed and Madoushi they sealed a contract, a vow, which oversaw the use of their combined magic. For many years they stayed in Hong Kong, until one day, that contract was broken. No one truly knew what means of treachery happened between Reed and Madoushi, but after a clash that brought about the falling of the stars themselves, the two magicians parted ways. Madoushi, in the peak rage, took the twenty-two Clow Cards that reflected her powers of the Sun and fled to Japan. Clow Reed remained in Hong Kong, but without the Cards governed by the Sun, the deck became unbalanced, and the eight more powerful escaped their master and disappeared into China. The Cards governed by the Moon remained with Clow._

_There were very few stories of what became of either magician after that. _

_The strongest magicians from either family fought to possess the Cards their ancestors left behind, and the two Guardians of the Clow Cards could do nothing but watch the bloodshed as it came. They were neither for nor against either family or each other, for it had been ruled by Clow that they would serve the magician who held all the Cards governed by the Sun or Moon. The Cards in their sealed form without a master grew restless, and one day, they broke free and scattered themselves over Hong Kong, Japan, and China._

_For centuries after, the feud remained strong between the Kinomotos and the Lis. The Kinomotos continue to fight because in all truth, they held the right to Clow's power. The Cards rightfully belonged to them. But the Lis refused this, and thus their feud continued... Resent grew to hatred, and that hatred fuelled the lust for blood. And after many generations, their fight for the Clow Cards was to become a fight for vengeance. They wanted revenge for those who had died before them._

_Magicians from all over Asia heard of what had happened, how the Clow Cards roamed free, and they sought to capture the magic for themselves. The magicians who hunted those Cards became known as the Cardcaptors. The Cards were captured in time, but not one person owned them all. And so those Cardcaptors were forced to fight amongst each other for the Cards they did not own. The battles became bloody, for when Clow created the Cards, he made them so their master's name would stay inscribed upon them until the day that master either gave it away willingly... or died._

_For centuries this continued like the beats repeating in a song, and it will go on until the day one rightful magician, the strongest of them all, holds all fifty-two Cards of Clow. Even then, the cycle of this fate will continue because we are vengeful. If not we fight for the cards, then we fight for the sake of our ancestors who died at the hands of our enemy. It will not end until one family's line is extinguished._

_Clow Reed created these spirits and sealed them into tarot cards because he wanted always there to be light and hope in this dark world. But he did not realize that when he created the Clow Cards, he created a darkness so great, that every magician whose power did not match up to his fell destined to die. Until one day a Kinomoto or Li prevails over the other, there will be no peace or silence between these families. There will be no light in their world._

"And that is why this day I must return the Cards to the rightful Kinomoto family, and defeat the last heir to the Lis," Sakura concluded when the elders finished their tale. They nodded and she bowed deeply. "Upon my father's soul I vow to fulfill this 'destiny' of mine."

"We do not doubt you, Kinomoto Sakura. You are free to leave us now."

She stood up then and bowed once as she gathered her tarot Cards and left the elders' chambers in a whisper of silence. She did not look back, for there was a great task ahead of her, and she vowed she would not look the elders in their eyes until the moment she returned from China, holding all fifty-two Cards in her hand.

It was nearly two in the morning when Sakura crossed the corridors between the elders' chambers and the rest of the manor. When she entered the kitchen, she found her brother at the table reading. It was a book that had belonged to her mother.

"Touya-kun, you are still awake at this hour?"

"I could ask the same for you," he replied, closing the book. "It looks as if you were let out early... Are you hungry?" Sakura nodded and sat down while her brother opened the pantries, pulling out bread and some confectioneries—spiced butter and jam. He laid everything out on the counter and Sakura continued to watch. "In what mood were the elders in that you've been freed so long before sunrise? Or did you finally decide to cast a spell on those senile delinquents that call themselves your teachers?" he teased.

Sakura laughed out loud. "For once not one was disappointed in me. I could not get over the fact that Fukae and Saori only looked at me with neutral expression. They're the two that are always displeased or disappointed or disbelieving or disapproving of my abilities."

"And what could have caused that, I wonder?" Sakura was silent for a moment, because the news she brought was respectable, but it was not for celebration. She knew her brother would not be pleased. "You're not going to answer me, huh?" he asked, noticing a reluctance growing in her eyes. Sakura inhaled sharply.

"Touya-san," she began. "It was tonight that I discovered I had captured the final Card in Japan. In three days I will leave for Hong Kong, and from there I must travel into the depths of inland China." Touya's eyes were wide, shock, fear, and worry reflecting clearly. "The elders told me I am to hunt down the Elemental Cards and seal them, and then I will have to face the Li magician. If I defeat him I will own all the Cards."

"Sakura—"

"It's what I must do, Touya-san. I must return the Cards to the Kinomoto family, as they asked me to." There was a long silence after that.

"I cannot stop you because the elders have sent you. I cannot convince you not to go or them not to send you away. But at least promise you will come home." His eyes went cold for a moment, flashing with a feeling so hateful, Sakura became afraid. But she knew it was not her he would have killed if he possessed magic. He would have hunted down the elders. "I don't care if you return with those bloody Cards or without them, you will still come home... and come home alive."

It was a promise Sakura knew she could not keep. She knew the story of Clow Reed and the Kinomotos and Lis. For the Clow Cards, it was always a battle to the final end. She would have to return with the Cards or return not at all. "Promise me, Sakura," Touya repeated, but he knew she would not answer.

Kinomoto Sakura did not answer. The siblings continued to eat in silence, and across the sea, the heart of China was waiting for her. Her enemy was waiting as well.

Well, I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going with this fic... I put it to rest about a year ago because there were too many plot inconsistencies... and it was too firkin confusing. I thought I'd resurrect it, though. What'd'ya think so far? Should we introduce Li now? ;P

CrimsonDaybreak

NoireCat


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